Some recent events have me thinking again about the great Dr. Seuss story, “The Lorax,” that I remember seeing on TV just once and never again (Wikipedia says that it first aired on St. Valentine’s Day 1972), probably after protests by certain industries. “The Lorax” is now available on DVD. Dr Seuss lived on a hilltop in La Jolla (sounds like “hoya”), California.

“The Lorax” is to environmentalism what the story “The Sneetches” is to equal rights. Basically, the plot of The Lorax is the near-extinction of “Truffula Trees” as the result of their use in manufacturing garments (Thneeds [“which everyone needs”]), and the struggle of the Lorax to prevent the extinction. The famous line spoken by the Lorax is, “Who’ll speak for the trees?”

Once upon a time in Silicon Valley, there was a company that had 6 (count’em, 6) redwood trees that were growing close to its buildings. The trees were tagged for removal, perhaps because of the closeness, but perhaps because the management wanted to give the campus a new look. Two of the trees (the largest and farthest from the buildings) were re-tagged as “Heritage Redwood Trees” by the city. Guess what? All 6 redwoods were cut down anyway. A fine may have been paid for the Heritage Trees (not sure), but the trees are gone nevertheless. (A number of other, less majestic, trees were also cut down.)

The CEO and other upper management of that company are now gone, but so are the redwoods.

I know which will be missed more.

“The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones:” -William Shakespeare, “Julius Caesar” (Act 3, Scene 2, Lines 80-81)